The inventive concept relates to a test structure of a semiconductor device and a method of performing a test using the test structure, and more particularly, to a time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) test structure of a semiconductor device for determining whether a dielectric layer is broken during a TDDB test, and a method of performing the TDDB test using the TDDB structure.
A variety of tests are performed for semiconductor devices so as to obtain reliability for the semiconductor devices. Among these tests, a time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) test is performed to electrically measure and evaluate a breakdown voltage of a dielectric layer, for example, a gate dielectric layer or a capacitor dielectric layer, and measure and evaluate the time taken to break the dielectric layer.
With the degree of integration of semiconductor devices increasing, and thicknesses of dielectric layers, for example, gate dielectric layers, decreasing, the time taken to perform the TDDB test increases. Moreover, the TDDB test is performed on each of a plurality of test patterns formed on a semiconductor substrate in order to increase the reliability of the TDDB test results. As a result, the time taken to perform the TDDB test increases.